SEPTEMBER 19, 2002

Frentzen impresses Sauber, then crashes

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had an eventful day behind the wheel of the Sauber C21 at Silverstone Thursday. The German, who was evaluating whether he could drive the relatively small chassis effectively at next weekend's USGP, set the fastest time of the day but crashed heavily on his last lap. Frentzen was unhurt, but the car was damaged heavily.

Before his crash, the ex-Arrows driver completed over seventy laps, setting a best time of 1:21.648, about two tenths of a second off Heidfeld's best time Wednesday.

"This was in fact a very impressive come back to the Sauber team by Heinz-Harald," said Peter Sauber. "He completed 71 laps and set the fastest time of the day, and he achieved this in a seating position which is only a compromise for him."

Giancarlo Fisichella continued work for Jordan, and Fernando Alonso and Oliver Gavin continued testing at Silverstone for Renault Thursday alongside Frentzen.

Thursday was the last day of testing in Silverstone, as the teams will now prepare to ship their equipment to the US.